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Birkbeck achieves second highest score in London for overall satisfaction in National Student Survey

The Survey, and the College’s recent TEF Silver award, confirms that Birkbeck’s teaching is among the best in the country.

Birkbeck, University of London, has achieved the second highest score in London for teaching and overall satisfaction in the latest National Student Survey (NSS).

The news comes shortly after Birkbeck was allocated a Silver award in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the Government’s new system for rating university teaching, which recognised the College’s teaching excellence and outstanding track record of helping students - many of them from ‘non-traditional’ educational backgrounds, or out of formal education for many years - progress into postgraduate study or graduate jobs.

In this year’s NSS, Birkbeck was rated second among London institutions for teaching: in particular, 90% of students taking part in this year’s NSS agree that their courses are intellectually stimulating - the sixth highest of any university in the country. Birkbeck also scored higher than the average in England over all four questions about teaching.

The College has been rated highly for student satisfaction in many individual subjects. Philosophy at Birkbeck is named best in the country for overall satisfaction while we are third for English, second for Media and fourth in the UK for Politics.

Birkbeck takes the top spot of all London universities for overall satisfaction in English, Politics, Philosophy, and History (including History of Art) and Archaeology; the College is first in London for teaching in History (including History of Art) and Archaeology; and nationally for teaching we were rated third for Politics, second for Media and sixth for History (including History of Art) and Archaeology.

But whilst overall satisfaction at Birkbeck was 84%, the College recognises that much more can be done to improve the unique experience students get while studying full-time or part-time at the UK’s only evening university.

Earlier this year the College embarked on a comprehensive student review, aiming to explore and investigate the experience of taught students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. It encompasses all aspects of the student experience, both academic and non‐academic, and follows the student journey from registration to award.

Professor David Latchman, Master of Birkbeck, said: “The National Student Survey and our recent TEF Silver award confirm that Birkbeck’s teaching is among the best in the country and our dedicated, hard-working students find our courses hugely stimulating. But we can and will do more to make our College an outstanding experience for all students.”

This year, 59% per cent of final year undergraduate students at Birkbeck completed the Survey which gathers opinions from mainly final year undergraduates on eight different areas of university life. Detailed feedback is used by the College to continually improve the student experience. Over the past year, Birkbeck has made a series of improvements based on the 2016 NSS survey, including ensuring every degree student has a personal tutor and improving the group study space in the library.